Agenda item

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC

A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to public questions submitted in writing to Democratic Services (democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk) by 4pm two working days prior to the meeting. Questions must be within the remit of the Committee or be relevant to items appearing on the agenda and will be submitted in the order in which they were received.

 

Minutes:

A question was submitted by Mr. Ning of Churton Avenue, Sale as follows:-

 

“Statement of concern that the planning process fails to monitor applicant compliance. Planning performance was last published in September 2013. Recent restructuring of the Planning Compliance Team and increased levels of commercial and personal property development suggests a policy of self validation and self compliance including required inspection of building work.

There is a request for an update of planning performance including Permitted Developments, Appeals and Variations.

There is a request for a 'call in' of 103760-HHA-21 and related 107572-VAR-22 as an example of poor self validation and self compliance.

The impact on Churton Avenue residents and Selsey Avenue Playing Fields locality would be of interest to local press and the wider Trafford community”.

 

Prior to the response being given the Head of Planning and Development advised the Committee that the call-in request had been directed back to Mr. Ning to go through Ward Councillors as is appropriate and was advised of the correct procedure, in respect of the other application Mr. Ning was informed that this cannot be called-in as it has already been determined.  The response to the question is as follows:-

 

Trafford Council recognises the value of a professional, proactive and well-resourced planning enforcement function and we have recently restructured the Planning Service to increase our specialist capacity in this area. There is more development taking place in the Borough, but this is reflected in increased numbers of planning applications being submitted.

 

The Council typically receives around 400 planning enforcement complaints per year which require investigation. A large proportion of these complaints relate to house extensions and allegations of non-compliance with approved plans or exceedance of permitted development tolerances. In many of these cases we find that there is either no breach of planning control, or that the unauthorised development can be regularised through an application for an amendment, variation or retrospective permission.

 

The number of complaints we receive indicate that residents are vigilant in monitoring development in their neighbourhoods and that they are not afraid to report their concerns to the Council. A programme of proactive monitoring or verification of compliance with householder planning applications would require significant additional resources, but is unlikely to be any more effective in identifying non-compliance than monitoring by residents. Unlike Building Control, there is no statutory inspection regime for planning. It is ultimately a home owner’s responsibility to ensure that they comply with planning legislation when extending their home. There is also no requirement for a home owner to notify the Planning Service if they are carrying out works, including extensions, which do not require planning permission, unless those works specifically fall under the prior approval regime.

 

The service have identified areas where a more proactive approach can be taken by officers, including monitoring of new housing developments, advertisement control and untidy or derelict sites. We will shortly be advertising for a new Enforcement Officer to increase our capacity and capability for delivering these proactive interventions.

 

In respect of planning performance, a range of data is published quarterly and annually for all local planning authorities, including Trafford, by the Government. The most recent return is for Q1–Q3 2021–22 i.e. between 1 April 2021 and 31 December 2022. The data for Q4 is still being validated. The Government monitors local authority planning performance and can put an authority in ‘special measures’ if it is not performing adequately. 

 

In Q1– Q3 2021–22 100% of major applications were determined within 13 weeks or an agreed extension of time, 85.7% of minor applications and 79.8% of other applications (mainly householders) were determined within 8 weeks or an agreed extension of time. 

 

In respect of appeals, 50 appeals were determined by the Planning Inspectorate in 2021 – 22, of which 34 (68%) were dismissed. Only one of the seven appeals determined so far in 2022–23 has been allowed.

 

Specific data for permitted development and variation applications is not collected by Government as it is not a reflection on a local authority’s performance. However, between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022, 132 applications for householder prior approval were submitted (where a scheme is permitted development subject to conditions being satisfied and approved by the planning authority), and 283 certificates of lawful development were submitted (to confirm that planning permission is not required). 74 variation of condition applications were submitted, of which 20 were for householder development.